In the twenty-third episode of the fourth season of Voyager, I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
Trigger Warning: For talk of racism, genocide, warfare.
I can’t deny what a bold, ambitious, and risky episode this is. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it because… actually, let’s start there, since it’s a great way for me to try and wrestle with what this episode has pulled off.
I’ll be upfront: I never expected the show to jump forward to a time long after Voyager ever got home or failed to. And the show NEVER TELLS US. We get no update on whether or not Voyager succeeded in making it back to Earth. Instead, we’re dropped into a confusing nightmare, then pulled out of it and told that it happened SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS PRIOR.
Most of this episode, I kept telling myself that this had to be fake. It was a simulation, or maybe it was a Mirror Universe episode, or maybe someone had finally updated the Holonovels library with something super ridiculous and violent. What I saw on the screen was characteristically not the people I had come to adore over the course of watching Voyager. They would never purposely get themselves involved in such a conflict; Janeway would never itch to act out genocide on a culture; Tuvok wouldn’t gleefully make it happen faster; the Doctor wouldn’t enjoy creating a biogenic weapon. EVERYTHING WAS WRONG. (Bless that joke at Tom Paris’s expense, though. THAT WAS THE BEST.)
But the museum reveal… jesus, I was not fucking ready for it at all. In this, the writers are able to address a whole host of issues. (Some of those better than others, and I’ll get to that.) Namely? What if an interpretation of historical evidence is wildly wrong? What if said interpretation influences a modern-day narrative so much that any discovery of evidence that contradicts it sets off a war? These are absolutely massive questions to be asking, and when Voyager keeps it personal, it is undeniably compelling. Watching Quarren present this “view” of history with authority and certainty is frustrating, but he’s not doing it maliciously. As far as he and the other researchers can tell, this is what happened seven hundred years prior. It set in motion the long war between the Kyrians and the Vaskans, one which ended with the Vaskans gaining an oppressive power over the Kyrians. Thus, the interpretation of history benefits the Kyrians… somewhat? It’s kind of muddled at this point because the Vaskans are the oppressive power in this society, yet there’s a museum pointing out how the Vaskans were responsible for the genocide of the Kyrians, so it feels weird to say that the museum “benefits” the Kyrians.
See, this is where some of the real-world implications of this don’t necessarily work. The show invokes racism between these two species, and that’s half the problem. Science fiction as a whole loves to use metaphorical racism in this context, despite that racism isn’t between different species. So, we get analogies that fall apart or have troubling implications. Imagine if this episode were about the genocide of any number of real-world peoples: the indigenous people of North and Central America, Jewish people, Armenians. If we took those same historical examples of genocide and implanted them here, then this story says that technically, the genocide that came of them was technically their fault. In the actual history that the Doctor re-creates, you can see how the Kyrians were the aggressors in the war, not the Vaskans. (Which is then complicated by the fact that Daleth killed Tedran.)
So, how did the modern societal power structure between the Vaskans and Kyrians come to be? How is it that the Kyrians were the aggressors, yes now, the Vaskans are the oppressors? It’s left to our imagination, which isn’t a terrible idea, but once you invoke race in the way this story does, it’s hard for my brain not to think about these sort of parallels.
Again, this is why I think “Living Witness” works much better on a personal scale. Watching Quarren struggle with the truth and how it has contradicted everything he’s ever known about history is heartbreaking and intriguing. See him argue with the Arbiters is great, too! And my god, the Doctor is SO AMAZING IN THIS EPISODE. Not only does he have to deal with defending himself and the crew, but the writers give him so much more to work with! Him reminiscing about B’Elanna (who is totally absent from this episode because of a historical mistake) is one of my favorite scenes in “Living Witness” because it gives this a loving touch. For the Doctor, a few days had passed since he was last activated, and he’s got to contend with SEVEN CENTURIES passing in the interim. There’s a sadness to this, then, since he can’t rely on all the friends he made aboard Voyager.
Instead, he depends on the moral code that the Voyager crew helped grow within him. Upon learning that his very existence has re-ignited the war between the Vaskans and the Kyrians, the Doctor offers to sacrifice himself. That alone was a noble suggestion, but his decision to stick around with Quarren to rebuild history as it actually happened is even more significant. That final reveal of the second simulation was so powerful. The Doctor and Quarren fought for the truth, and that fight brought peace. Framing this all through two museum exhibits added a narrative power to “Living Witness.” Even if I have issues with some of the points made, I still believe this is a strong Voyager episode, one of the most ambitious things the team has ever pulled off.
The video for “Living Witness” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.
– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.  Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.
- Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook! I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
